NatWest Appoints Ex-PayPal Exec as New CPO

NatWest Group has announced the appointment of Mark Brant as the chief payments officer (CPO) of NatWest.

In a statement emailed to PYMNTS, NatWest Group said that the payment industry veteran will join the group on Jan. 16.

Brant will report to Paul Thwaite, CEO of NatWest’s commercial and institutional franchise. Katie Murray is NatWest’s chief financial officer.

The statement added that Rupert Keeley, who has been leading NatWest’s Payments Centre of Expertise on an interim basis, will hand over his current responsibilities to Brant in the new year.

NatWest Group, which consists of the U.K. retail banks NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland, as well as a number of commercial, private and investment banking divisions, is an important player in the country’s payment landscape and one of only a handful of institutions authorized to issue banknotes in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Earlier this year, NatWest entered the Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) space via a joint venture with Vodeno.

With over 25 years in the industry, including stints at American Express and PayPal, Brant will join NatWest from ParentPay Group, where he currently serves as CEO.

Commenting on the appointment, Thwaite said, “I am delighted that Mark is joining the business. Payments are a critical part of our future plans at NatWest Group, and Mark brings with him a wealth of experience and insight that will support us in realizing our growth ambitions.”

Brant said he looks forward to participating in NatWest’s payments vision. “With one in four payments touching NatWest platforms and the diverse scale of the bank’s customer base, we have an exciting opportunity ahead of us. I’m looking forward to developing new solutions and accelerating the innovative offerings that NatWest has launched in recent years,” he said.

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